Rishabh Pant's finger injury is a huge blow to India. Pant has been in stellar form in the series and is one of the mainstays of the batting. He didn't keep wickets in the Lord's Test post injury and looked a bit uncomfortable with the bat in the second innings as India succumbed to a defeat.

Most teams would do away with an unfit player for a big Test, but India are keen on playing Rishabh Pant as they feel he can still be an asset for the side, even though he might not keep wickets in the Manchester Test.

"He will bat in Manchester before the Test. I don't think you want to keep Rishabh out of the Test, no matter what. He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test and it's only going to get easier and easier on his finger. Keeping is obviously the last part of the process to make sure he can keep. We don't want to go through that again, where we have to replace the keeper halfway through an innings. He rested today, hopefully, he is good to go in Manchester,” India assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said in the pre-game press conference.

Why Rishabh Pant's Injury Is Not Great For Karun Nair?

If Rishabh Pant is not going to keep in the fourth Test, India will have to make a forced change and play Dhruv Jurel as the wicketkeeper-batter. India do have KL Rahul, but with him opening the innings, it is very unlikely that he will be asked to keep. Jurel also kept for India at Lord's post Pant's injury. Karun Nair hasn't been in great form in the series and didn't cross the fifty-run mark in the three Tests. There were already talks about India dropping him for the Manchester Test, but with Pant's injury, they now have a serious reason to take the call.